Report: 33 Zamfara residents killed in airstrike during Eid-el-Fitr celebration

At least 33 residents of Dogon Daji village in Maradun LGA of Zamfara were reported killed during an airstrike by the military.

Reuters reports that the incident happened on April 10 when residents were preparing for the Eid-el-Fitr prayer that marked the end of the Ramadan fasting.

Reuters said four residents and a traditional leader spoke about the incident.

The military operation was said to be targeting bandits and their hideouts.

Lawali Ango, the traditional head of Dogon Daji village, said he was on his way to observe the Eid prayer when an aircraft passed.

Ango said he heard loud explosions after sighting the aircraft, which made him call those at home via the telephone.

The traditional ruler said the call did not connect at the time and he and a group of men raced back home on motorbikes.

“Arriving at the scene, I saw children, men and women … were killed and trapped inside the collapsed buildings that were hit by a bomb,” Ango told Reuters.

“They (the military) are saying the bandits escaped and sought hideouts in our village.

“I swear there is nothing like this, I can go anywhere and confirm this to the world.”

Surajo Abubakar, a farmer, who lost two wives and five children in the incident, said he heard the noise of jet in the sky in the morning, which was followed by blasts.

“I lost seven people in my family, and in all about 33 dead bodies were counted,” Abubakar said.

Abu Waziri, a resident of the village,  said he was shocked to see the damages done by the airstrike.

“We managed to be patient and put the body parts together and prayed for them and buried them,” Waziri said.

When contacted for comment on the incident, Edward Buba, director of defence media operations, denied civilians had been killed or targeted.

Buba added that airstrikes were carried out only after careful intelligence and surveillance.

PAST ACCIDENTAL MILITARY AIRSTRIKES

Over the past few years, airstrikes conducted by military personnel have killed many people in the northern part of the country.

At least 30 people were killed by airstrikes conducted by the Nigerian Army in the Tudun Birni community under Igabi LGA of Kaduna, on December 3, 2023.

In January 2023, at least 27 people were reported dead following an airstrike by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in Kwateri, a community between Benue and Nasarawa states.

Here is the timeline of accidental airstrikes in Nigeria in the last six years.